Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 16:17:56 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Defector Warns of Russian Plans
To: jy@jya.com
From: nobody@shinobi.alias.net (Anonymous)
Associated Press, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 3:20 p.m. EDT
Defector Warns of Russian Plans
By Barry Schweid, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former Soviet agent says Russia's military
intelligence is gathering information on President Clinton, key
congressional and military leaders and members of the Cabinet for
assassination squads.
Elite troops already are training in the United States and in the
event of war "would try to assassinate as many American leaders as
possible, as well as their families," Stanislav Lunev, a former
colonel in the Russian military intelligence service, asserts in a
book published Wednesday.
They would also blow up power stations, telephone switching systems
and dams and target secret landing sites for Air Force One, wrote
Lunev, who defected in 1992.
"The use of tactical nuclear weapons would be likely," he said.
Declaring he wanted to use his experience "to warn America of the
dirty tricks that can be played against her," the defector says
Russian pilots are training for action against the United States
and NATO.
In the book, "Through the Eyes of the Enemy," and in an Associated
Press interview, Lunev said special agents were entering the United
States as foreign tourists on fake passports and that elite troops
were locating sites to deposit small nuclear devices, known as
"suitcase bombs," in the Shenandoah Valley outside Washington and
the Hudson Valley of New York.
"Russia remains terrified of the power of America, and Russian
military intelligence does everything it can to prepare for a war
that it considers inevitable," Lunev wrote.
CIA and FBI officials declined to discuss the former colonel or his
assertions. On one of his central points, that Russian mobsters
have considerable control over the Russian government, including
espionage operations, CIA spokesperson Anya Guilsher said:
"The Russian intelligence security services have expressed public
concern regarding Russian organized criminal ties to government
officials. There is a determined effort under way to prosecute
officials for criminal activity."
Guilsher also said "the Russian mafia is something we continue to
watch carefully."
Last September, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official denied
the existence of suitcase-size nuclear bombs, saying such devices
would be technically possible but too costly and inefficient to
produce.
The statements by Lt. Gen. Igor Volynkin disputed claims by former
Russian government officials that Moscow possessed the miniature
bombs and had lost track of some of them.
In the book, Lunev wrote that "America is facing a nation led by
gangsters -- gangsters who have nuclear weapons. And some of these
weapons are on American soil."
In a telephone interview, Lunev said the Russian government cannot
account for about 100 nuclear devices, and "it's possible" nuclear
weapons already have been dropped in the Shenandoah and Hudson
valleys or elsewhere in the United States.
On the influence of Russian mobsters, he spoke without qualification.
"The mafia controls the government and the political establishment,
and as a result of this they have a huge influence over (President
Boris) Yeltsin."
Lunev shied away from registering an opinion of Clinton's decision to
go to Moscow in September for talks with Yeltsin. "It's not my
business," he said.
However, Lunev said it was more important to talk to the Russian
president about the proliferation of missile technology than to defer
a summit until the Russian parliament approves the START II missile
reduction treaty.
Asked what his intentions were, Lunev said: "I wish America to take
much more care about this country's national security because the
Cold War is not finished."
Lunev went on: "There is no military confrontation between the two
blocs, but the Cold War is still in play and going on in much more
dangerous ways. There is no open confrontation, but a lot of activity
from special services and criminals."
Insisting that Russia was preparing for war with the United States,
the former intelligence officer said, "Russian pilots are training
for action against NATO and the U.S. military. Russia still consider
the United States and NATO the main potential military adversaries."
Asked how U.S. officials responded to his allegations, Lunev replied:
"They are very interested, but they are professional and they cannot
provide emotions."
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press